Multi-beam scanner, multi-beam scanning method, synchronizing beam detecting method and image forming apparatus

ABSTRACT

A multi-beam scanner includes light sources, a deflector deflecting the beams emitted from the light sources at an equiangular velocity, a scanning image-forming optical system guiding the deflected beams to a surface so as to be formed into light spots on the scanned surface, a light receiving device receiving the beams deflected toward optical write-in starting portions on the scanned surface as synchronizing beams, and a synchronizing beam optical system guiding the beams deflected toward the optical write-in starting portions on the scanned surface to the light receiving device. The scanning image-forming optical system includes two or more scanning positive lenses, with a region having a positive power in a main scanning direction on an optical write-in starting side, and each deflected beam received by the light receiving device passes through one or more but not all of the scanning positive lenses to be guided to the light receiving device. An optical path length from the deflector to the light receiving device is set larger than an optical path length from the deflector to the scanned surface in the synchronizing beam optical system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional of application Ser. No.09/860,520, filed May 21, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,956,685, and claimspriority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-148056 filed in theJapanese Patent Office on May 19, 2000, the contents of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a multi-beam scanner, a multi-beamscanning method, a method for detecting a synchronizing beam inmulti-beam scanning, and an image forming apparatus.

2. Discussion of the Background

There has recently appeared a multi-beam scanning method for lightscanning that can meet requirements for increasing speed in lightscanning.

The multi-beam scanning method employs a plurality of light sourceswhich can be independently modulated according to an image signal.Typically, one of those light sources may be a semiconductor laser wherethe emitted light wavelength varies slightly over different productionlots of the laser.

If multi-beam scanning is conducted by combining a plurality ofsemiconductor lasers having different emitted light wavelengths, thechromatic aberration of a scanning optical system positioned between thelight source and the scanned surface has the effect that the scanningoptical system gives different optical actions for different beams(having different wavelengths). Therefore, if a long line is written ina sub-scanning direction, a phenomenon called vertical line fluctuationoccurs where the thus written line wavers minutely.

The vertical line fluctuation typically appears notably on the write-intermination side of light scanning. Even if an image other than avertical line is written to a portion with a notable vertical linefluctuation, an image density difference due to the shift in superposingof dots written in by the plurality of beams appears.

One of the methods for avoiding such a phenomenon is to use anachromatism-processed optical system as the above-mentioned scanningoptical system. An achromatism-processed scanning optical system,however, is expensive in manufacturing costs and so contributes toincreased costs of the relevant multi-beam scanner as a whole.

Another method may be a method for making up a light source apparatus bycombining semiconductor lasers having an emitted light wavelengthdifference not larger than a predetermined value, as disclosed inJapanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-76562, by which,however, the vertical line fluctuation which is caused by the differencein the emitted light wavelengths of the combined beams cannot bemitigated further.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the above-discussed andother problems and addresses the above-discussed and other problems.

Accordingly, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide anovel multi-beam scanning apparatus and a novel multi-beam scanningmethod that effectively mitigate the phenomenon of vertical linefluctuation due to the difference in the wavelength of light emittedfrom the light source in multi-beam scanning.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a methodof detecting a synchronizing beam for controlling optical write-instarting of each beam for scanning each scanning line in a multi-beamscanner includes the steps of: deflecting each of beams, emitted from aplurality of light sources and modulated independently according to animage signal, by a common deflector at an equiangular velocity toward anoptical write-in starting portion of a scanned surface, and convergingthe deflected beam toward the scanned surface by a scanningimage-forming optical system including lenses to form a plurality oflight spots on the scanned surface, separated from each other in asub-scanning direction, to simultaneously scan a plurality of scanninglines by use of the plurality of light spots; and sequentially guidingeach deflected beam by a synchronizing beam optical system of asynchronization detecting system toward a light receiving device of thesynchronization detecting system so as to be received by the lightreceiving device as the synchronizing beam, the synchronizationdetecting system reducing the value of a parameter d₁/ω₁, where d₁ is amaximum shift in a beam position in a main scanning direction at a lightreceiving face position of the light receiving device, caused by adifference in inter-beam wavelength in a synchronizing beam detectingview angle, and ω₁ is a beam displacement at the light receiving faceposition corresponding to a unit change in a view angle of thesynchronizing beam detecting view angle.

The synchronizing beam detecting view angle is a view angle for regularincidence of a reference beam as deflected by the deflector upon thelight receiving face of the light receiving device.

The above-mentioned d₁ and ω₁ are described later.

In the above-mentioned synchronizing beam detecting method, some of thelenses contained in the scanning form-imaging optical system can beutilized as a part of the synchronizing beam optical system of thesynchronization detecting system. Here, when n (≧2) number of lenses arecontained in the scanning image-forming optical system, “Some of thelenses contained in the scanning form-imaging optical system” referredto here indicate m (n>m≧1) number of lenses of the n (≧2) number oflenses.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned synchronization detecting method, adedicated optical system can be used as the synchronizing beam opticalsystem to thereby reduce the parameter d1/ω1 to 0.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, amulti-beam scanner includes a plurality of light sources, a deflector, ascanning optical system, a light receiving device, and a synchronizingbeam optical system.

Each of the plurality of light sources independently modulates a beamaccording to an image signal.

The deflector has a deflecting/reflecting face for deflecting the beamsof the plurality of light sources at an equiangular velocity.

The scanning image-forming optical system is provided for guiding thebeams deflected by the deflector to a scanned surface to thereby form aplurality of light spots on the scanned surface.

The light receiving device is provided common to a plurality of beamsfor sequentially and individually receiving the beams deflected towardthe optical write-in starting portion on the scanned surface.

The synchronizing beam optical system is provided for guiding thedeflected beams to the above-mentioned light receiving device.

The above-mentioned plurality of light sources may be two semiconductorlasers or more or a semiconductor laser array. When a semiconductorlaser array is used, each of light emitting portions arranged in thearray is used as a light source.

When two semiconductor lasers or more are used, on the other hand, beamsfrom those semiconductor lasers may be combined using a combinationprism or may be incident to the deflector with their respective openingangles in the main scanning direction.

The deflector may be a rotary uni-facial mirror, a rotary two-facialmirror, or a rotary multi-facial mirror. Of these, a rotary multi-facialmirror is well suited.

The scanning image-forming optical system can be constituted from onelens or more, or one lens or more and one image forming mirror or morehaving an image forming action.

Although an optical system for forming a light spot by converging adeflected beam to a scanned surface can be constituted from only oneimage combining mirror having an image forming action, such an opticalsystem has originally no chromatic aberration, and so has no problem ofthe above-mentioned vertical line fluctuation. Therefore, the scanningimage-forming optical system in a multi-beam scanner according to thepresent invention always includes one lens or more.

The scanned surface scanned by a plurality of light spots isspecifically a photosensitive surface of a photosensitive medium.

In the above multi-beam scanner, the scanning image-forming opticalsystem has two or more scanning positive lenses. The scanning positivelenses have a region having a positive power in the main scanningdirection on the optical write-in starting side. Each deflected beam tobe detected by the light receiving device passes through one or more ofthe two or more scanning positive lenses but not all of them and then isguided to the light receiving device. In other words, some of thescanning positive lenses (that is, lenses which the deflected beam to bedetected by the light receiving device passes through) constitutes atleast a part of the synchronizing beam optical system.

An optical path length from the deflector up to the light receivingdevice is set larger than the optical path length from the deflector upto the scanned surface in the synchronizing beam optical system.

The above-mentioned optical path length from the deflector up to thescanned surface in the synchronizing beam optical system is an opticalpath length between the scanned surface and the deflecting/reflectingface of the deflector in a virtual optical path when an optical path ofa deflected beam guided by the synchronizing beam optical system issupposed to be developed linearly.

In the above multi-beam scanner, the light receiving face of the lightreceiving device can be arranged near the image forming position in themain scanning direction of the deflected beam guided by thesynchronizing beam optical system.

In the above multi-beam scanner, the synchronizing beam optical systemcan have an anamorphic optical element for forming as an image adeflected beam in the vicinity of the light receiving face of the lightreceiving device in the sub-scanning direction. That is, in this case,the synchronizing beam optical system has an anamorphic optical elementbesides the above-mentioned scanning positive lens.

In the above multi-beam scanner, the scanning image-forming opticalsystem can be constituted by two scanning positive lenses having aregion having a positive power in the main scanning direction with oneof these two lenses present on the side of the deflector used as a partof the synchronizing beam optical system.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, amulti-beam scanner includes a plurality of light sources configured toemit beams independently modulated according to an image signal,respectively, a deflector having a deflecting/reflecting face andconfigured to deflect the beams emitted from the plurality of lightsources at an equiangular velocity, a scanning image-forming opticalsystem that guides the beams deflected by the deflector to a scannedsurface so as to be formed into a plurality of light spots on thescanned surface, a light receiving device that sequentially andindividually receives the beams deflected toward optical write-instarting portions on the scanned surface as synchronizing beams, thelight receiving device being common to the synchronizing beams, and asynchronizing beam optical system that guides the beams deflected to theoptical write-in starting portions to the light receiving device. In themulti-beam scanner, the scanning image-forming optical system has onescanning lens or more, and the synchronizing beam optical systemincludes one or more of the one scanning lens or more and a refractingoptical element. Each deflected beam to be received by the lightreceiving device passes through the one or more of the one scanning lensor more and a principal ray of the deflected beam passed through thescanning lens is deflected by the refracting optical element so as to beguided to the light receiving device. Further, a shift, due to adifference in wavelength of the deflected beam, of an incidence positionon the light receiving device of the deflected beam in a synchronizingbeam detecting angle is reduced by a difference in a refracting actionof the refracting optical element due to the deflected beam wavelengthdifference.

That is, in the above multi-beam scanner, the scanning lenses containedin the scanning image-forming optical system can all be used as a partof the synchronizing beam optical system.

In the above multi-beam scanner, the scanning image-forming opticalsystem can be constituted by two scanning lenses in such a configurationthat these two lenses may be used as a positive lens (which correspondsto a scanning positive lens in the above multi-beam scanner) having aregion having a positive power in the main scanning direction on theoptical write-in starting side, one of these scanning lenses which ispresent on the side of the deflector constituting a part of thesynchronizing beam optical system.

In the above multi-beam scanner, the refracting optical element can beused as a converging lens having a positive power in the main scanningdirection in such a configuration that this converging lens may bedecentered to deflect the principal ray of an incident deflected beam tothereby form as an image the deflected beam in the main scanningdirection in the vicinity of the light receiving face of the lightreceiving device using the positive power of the main scanningdirection.

In the above multi-beam scanner, the refracting optical element may be awedge-shaped prism. At least one face of the wedge-shaped prism can beprovided with a positive power in the sub-scanning direction so that adeflected beam may be formed in the sub-scanning direction as an imagein the vicinity of the light receiving face of the light receivingdevice using this positive power.

In the above multi-beam scanner, the change rate due to wavelength ofthe refractive index of the refracting optical element can be set largerthan that of the scanning lenses constituting a part of thesynchronizing beam optical system.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, amulti-beam scanner includes a plurality of light sources configured toemit beams independently modulated according to an image signal,respectively, a deflector having a deflecting/reflecting face andconfigured to deflect the beams emitted from the plurality of lightsources at an equiangular velocity, a scanning image-forming opticalsystem that guides the beams deflected by the deflector to a scannedsurface so as to be formed into a plurality of light spots on thescanned surface, a light receiving device that sequentially andindividually receives the beams deflected toward optical write-instarting portions on the scanned surface as synchronizing beams, thelight receiving device being common to the synchronizing beams, and asynchronizing beam optical system that guides the beams deflected to theoptical write-in starting portions to the light receiving device. In themulti-beam scanner, the scanning image-forming optical system and thesynchronizing beam optical system are provided mutually separately insuch a configuration that the synchronizing beam optical system guideseach deflected beam to the same position on the light receiving face ofthe light receiving device irrespective of its wavelength in terms ofthe synchronizing beam detecting view angle. In this case, thesynchronizing beam optical system can be provided as a converging lens.

In the above multi-scanners, there may be provided two light sourcesthat can modulate beams individually according to an image signal. Inthis case, these two light sources can be provided as mutually separatesemiconductor lasers in such a configuration that the beams from thesesemiconductor lasers may be incident onto the deflector with theirrespective opening angles in the main scanning direction through acoupling lens. The principal rays of beams from those semiconductorlasers can be made to intersect in the main scanning direction in thevicinity of the deflecting/reflecting face of the deflector. Thus, thedeflecting/reflecting face can be reduced in area to thereby minimizethe deflector.

Further, the beams from those semiconductor lasers can be formed througha line image-forming optical system as line images long in the mainscanning direction and mutually separated in the sub-scanning direction.Thus, face-tilting of the deflecting/reflecting face in the deflectorcan be corrected. The line image-forming optical system may be apositive cylindrical lens or a concave cylindrical mirror.

In this case, since each light source typically emits a diverged beam,it is transformed by a coupling optical element to a beam form suitedfor the next-stage optical system. The beam form transformed by thecoupling optical element may be a parallel beam or a diverging orconverging beam roughly equal to a parallel beam.

According to still another preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a method of multi-beam scanning includes the steps of:emitting from a plurality of light sources beams independently modulatedaccording to an image signal, respectively; deflecting the beams emittedfrom the plurality of light sources by a deflector at an equiangularvelocity; guiding the deflected beams to a scanned surface by a scanningimage-forming optical system so as to be formed into a plurality oflight spots on the scanned surface, separated from each other in asub-scanning direction; and sequentially and individually guiding thebeams deflected toward optical write-in starting portions on the scannedsurface by a synchronizing beam optical system so as to be received by alight receiving device common to the guided beams. In the method, thescanning image-forming optical system includes two or more scanningpositive lenses, and the scanning positive lenses have a region having apositive power in a main scanning direction on an optical write-instarting side thereof. Further, each deflected beam to be received bythe light receiving device passes through one or more of the twoscanning positive lenses or more but not all of the two scanningpositive lenses or more to be guided to the light receiving device, andan optical path length from the deflector to the light receiving deviceis set larger than an optical path length from the deflector to thescanned surface in the synchronizing beam optical system.

According to still another preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a method of multi-beam scanning includes the steps of:emitting from a plurality of light sources beams independently modulatedaccording to an image signal, respectively; deflecting the beams emittedfrom the plurality of light sources by a deflector at an equiangularvelocity; guiding the deflected beams to a scanned surface by a scanningimage-forming optical system so as to be formed into a plurality oflight spots on the scanned surface, separated from each other in asub-scanning direction; and sequentially and individually guiding thebeams deflected toward optical write-in starting portions on the scannedsurface by a synchronizing beam optical system so as to be received by alight receiving device common to the guided beams. In the method, thescanning image-forming optical system has one or more scanning lenses,and the synchronizing beam optical system include one or more of the oneor more scanning lenses and a refracting optical element. Further, eachdeflected beam to be received by the light receiving device passesthrough the one or more of the scanning lenses and a principal ray ofthe deflected beam passed through the scanning lens is deflected by therefracting optical element so as to be guided to the light receivingdevice, and a shift, due to a difference in wavelength of the deflectedbeam, of an incidence position on the light receiving device of thedeflected beam in a synchronizing beam detecting angle being reduced bya difference in a refracting action of the refracting optical elementdue to the deflected beam wavelength difference.

According to still another preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a method of multi-beam scanning includes the steps of:emitting from a plurality of light sources beams independently modulatedaccording to an image signal, respectively; deflecting the beams emittedfrom the plurality of light sources by a deflector at an equiangularvelocity; guiding the deflected beams to a scanned surface by a scanningimage-forming optical system so as to be formed into a plurality oflight spots on the scanned surface, separated from each other in asub-scanning direction; and sequentially and individually guiding thebeams deflected toward optical write-in starting portions on the scannedsurface by a synchronizing beam optical system so as to be received by alight receiving device common to the guided beams. In the method, thescanning image-forming optical system and the synchronizing beam opticalsystem are mutually separate, and the synchronizing beam optical systemguides each deflected beam to a substantially same position on the lightreceiving face of the light receiving device irrespective of itswavelength with respect to a synchronizing beam detecting view angle.

According to still another preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, an image forming apparatus includes: a photosensitive mediumhaving a photosensitive surface; a charging device configured touniformly charge the photosensitive surface; a multi-beam scannerconfigured to scan the uniformly charged photosensitive surface of thephotosensitive medium to form a latent image on the photosensitivesurface; and a visualizing device configured to visualize the latentimage. The multi-beam scanner includes a plurality of light sourcesconfigured to emit beams independently modulated according to an imagesignal, respectively; a deflector having a deflecting/reflecting faceand configured to deflect the beams emitted from the plurality of lightsources at an equiangular velocity; a scanning image-forming opticalsystem that guides the beams deflected by the deflector to thephotosensitive surface of the photosensitive medium so as to be formedinto a plurality of light spots constituting the latent image on thephotosensitive surface; a light receiving device that sequentially andindividually receives the beams deflected toward optical write-instarting portions on the photosensitive surface as synchronizing beams,the light receiving device being common to the synchronizing beams; anda synchronizing beam optical system that guides the beams deflectedtoward the optical write-in start portions on the photosensitive surfaceto the light receiving device. The scanning image-forming optical systemincludes two or more scanning positive lenses, and the scanning positivelenses have a region having a positive power in a main scanningdirection on an optical write-in starting side thereof. Each deflectedbeam to be received by the light receiving device passes through one ormore of the two or more scanning positive lenses but not all of the twoor more scanning positive lenses to be guided to the light receivingdevice, and an optical path length from the deflector to the lightreceiving device being set larger than an optical path length from thedeflector to the photosensitive surface in the synchronizing beamoptical system.

According to still another preferred embodiment, in the above imageforming apparatus, the scanning image-forming optical system has one ormore scanning lenses, and the synchronizing beam optical system includesone or more of the one or more scanning lenses and a refracting opticalelement. Further, each deflected beam to be received by the lightreceiving device passes through the one or more of the one or morescanning lenses and a principal ray of the deflected beam passed throughthe scanning lens is deflected by the refracting optical element so asto be guided to the light receiving device, and a shift, due to adifference in wavelength of the deflected beam, of an incidence positionon the light receiving device of the deflected beam in a synchronizingbeam detecting angle is reduced by a difference in the refracting actionof the refracting optical element due to the deflected beam wavelengthdifference.

According to still another preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, in the above image forming apparatus, the scanningimage-forming optical system and the synchronizing beam optical systemare mutually separate, and the synchronizing beam optical system guideseach deflected beam to the substantially same position on the lightreceiving face of the light receiving device irrespective of itswavelength with respect to a synchronizing beam detecting view angle.

In the above image forming apparatus, the photosensitive medium can beprovided as a photoconductive member in such a configuration that anelectrostatic latent image formed by uniform changing of thephotosensitive surface and the optical scanning of the optical scannermay be visualized to a toner image. The toner image is then fixed to asheet-shaped recording medium such as transfer paper or an OHP sheet(over-head projector plastic sheet).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of theattendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the samebecomes better understood by reference to the following detaileddescription when considered in conjunction with accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a multi-beam scanning apparatusaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing of a multi-beam scanning apparatusaccording to another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of a multi-beam scanning apparatusaccording to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of a multi-beam scanning apparatusaccording to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are schematic drawings for explaining an effect ofarranging a light receiving plane of a light receiving device in avicinity of an image forming point of a synchronizing beam;

FIG. 6 are drawings illustrating an aberration graph (image facecurvature and constant-velocity characteristic) of an optical systemused in each of the preferred embodiments;

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are drawings for explaining a vertical linefluctuation;

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are drawings for explaining reducing of a verticalline fluctuation; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic drawing of an image forming apparatus according toan embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Prior to describing preferred embodiments of the present invention, avertical line fluctuation and its occurrence mechanism will be describedwith reference to a background multi-beam scanner.

In FIG. 7A, semiconductor lasers indicated by reference signs 1 and 1′constitute a plurality of (two) light sources. Diverging beams emittedfrom the semiconductor lasers 1 and 1′ are transformed into respectiveessentially parallel beams through corresponding coupling lenses 2 and2′, which are a coupling optical element. Although each of those beamsemitted from the coupling lenses 2 and 2′ is incident onto adeflecting/reflecting face (which is illustrated in the form of adeflecting/reflecting face at a different time corresponding to therotation of a rotary multi-facial mirror 4) of the rotary multi-facialmirror 4 provided as a deflector with its respective opening angle ξ inthe main scanning direction, prior to this incidence, those beams passthrough a cylindrical lens as their common line image-forming opticalsystem and then are converged in the sub-scanning direction (a directioncorresponding to the sub-scanning direction on the scanned surface in anoptical path from each light source up to the scanned surface, i.e., adirection perpendicular to the surface in FIG. 8A) to be formed in thevicinity of the deflecting/reflecting face as a long line image in themain scanning direction (direction corresponding to the main scanningdirection on the scanned surface in the optical path from each lightsource up to the scanned surface).

The above-mentioned opening angle of beam refers to an angle expanded inthe main scanning direction of the two beams incident upon thedeflecting/reflecting face of the rotary multi-facial mirror 4 asdirected to the light source side when viewed from thedeflecting/reflecting face side.

The two beams emitted from the coupling lenses 2 and 2′ form a minuteangle therebetween in the sub-scanning direction, so that the line imagelong in the main scanning direction formed by the beams are separatefrom each other in the sub-scanning direction.

When reflected by the deflecting/reflecting face, beams pass throughscanning lenses 5 and 6 constituting a scanning image-forming opticalsystem, which have such an action on the beams as to converge them to ascanned surface 7, thus forming their respective light spots. Thoselight spots are separated from each other in the sub-scanning directionas well as in the main scanning direction so as to be able to scanmutually different scanning lines.

When the rotary multi-facial mirror 4 turns in the arrow direction at anequiangular velocity, the beams reflected by the deflecting/reflectingface are deflected at an equiangular velocity into deflected beams tothereby cause the light spots to simultaneously scan two scanning lineson the scanned surface 7.

Prior to scanning on the scanned surface, those beams are guided througha mirror 8 to a light receiving element 10 provided as the lightreceiving device (arranged at a position optically equivalent to thescanned surface 7 for forming the beams on the light receiving face asan image) to be detected there. The light receiving element 10 generatesa reception light signal. In a predetermined time lapse after thereception light signal is generated, an optical write-in operationstarts.

In FIG. 7A, a reference sign C indicates an optical write-in startingportion and a reference sign F indicates an optical write-in terminatingportion.

If, in this case, the beams emitted from the semiconductor lasers 1 and1′ have the same wavelength, the optical write-in starting portion C andthe optical write-in terminating portion F agree for each beam, thuspreventing the vertical line fluctuation from occurring.

If there is a wavelength difference between the beams from thesemiconductor lasers 1 and 1′, on the other hand, the scanning lenses 5and 5′ have different actions on the beams, so that the optical write-instarting and terminating portions do not agree because the scanning linelength is different for each beam by the magnification difference.

In FIG. 7B, a solid line denoted by a reference sign B1 indicates ascanning line scanned by the beam emitted from the semiconductor laser 1and a dashed line denoted by a reference sign B2 indicates a scanningline scanned by the beam from the semiconductor laser 1′. Here, it issupposed that the wavelength of the beam emitted from the semiconductorlaser 1′ is longer than the other.

Since the beam deflection quantity is small between the optical write-instarting portion C and the light receiving element 10, there occursessentially no difference between the optical write-in startingpositions on the side of the optical write-in starting side asillustrated in FIG. 7B, whereas on the optical write-in terminatingside, there occurs a shift in the position where a scanning line writtenin by the beam terminates, so that vertical line fluctuation having anamplitude Δe as shown in FIG. 7B occurs.

The above vertical line fluctuation is more specifically described usingnumerals below.

One example is given below of the optical data in the optical line fromthe deflecting/reflecting face to the scanned surface 7 of the rotarymulti-facial mirror 4. The length dimension has a unit of “mm”(millimeter).

Face No. Rm Rs(0) X N Remarks Deflecting/ ? ? 52.1 Rotary multi-facialreflecting 1** −312.6 −312.6 31.4 1.52395 Scanning lens 5 2** −83.0−83.0 78.0 3** −500.0 −47.7 4.0 1.52395 Scanning lens 6 4 −950.0 −23.41143.4 5 Scanned surface 7

“Rm” represents the near-axis curvature radius in a plane cross section(main scanning cross section) parallel to the main scanning directionincluding the optical axis, “Rs(0)” represents the near-axis curvatureradius on the plane cross section parallel to the sub-scanning directionincluding the optical axis, “X” represents the inter-face spacing on theoptical axis, and “N” represents a refractive index with respect to areference wavelength of a lens material. The face indicated by “**” hasa co-axial non-spherical shape represented by the following equation 1.X={(Y ²)/R}/{1+√/(1−(1+K)²(Y/R)² }+AY ² +BY ⁶ +CY ⁸ +DY ¹⁰  (1)

-   A face with a face number 1 has the following:    K=2.667, A=1.79E−07, B=−1.08E−12, C=−3.18E−14, D=3.74E−18-   A face with a face number 2 has the following:    K=0.02, A=2.50E−07, B=9.61E−12, C=4.54E−15, D=−3.03E−18

In the above, for example, “2.50E−07” means “2.50×10⁻⁷”. This principleholds true also in the following description.

The face indicated by “*” is non-arc shaped in the main scanning crosssection, having its curvature radius in the sub-scanning cross section(plane cross section perpendicular to the main scanning direction)changing continuously with the changing value of Y, which is the lensheight in the main scanning direction.

The shape of the face with a face number 3 in the main scanning crosssection is expressed by the above-mentioned equation 1 and has thefollowing:K=−71.73, A=4.33E−08, B=−5.97E−13, C=−1.28E−16, D=5.73E−21

The curvature radius in the sub-scanning cross section for a face number3 is expressed by the following equation 2:Rs(Y)=Rs(0)+Σb _(j) Y ^(j)(j=1, 2, 3, . . . )  (2)where b2=1.60E−03, b4=−2.37E−07, b6=1.60E−11, b8=−5.61E−16,b10=2.18E−20, b12=−1.25E−24 (the other coefficients are all 0).

As mentioned above, the beams are formed as a line image near thedeflecting/reflecting face in the sub-scanning direction and, in themain scanning direction the beams incident upon thedeflecting/reflecting face are made essentially parallel.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B show aberration graphs (image face curvature andconstant-velocity characteristic) of an optical system having theabove-mentioned example of data. As can be seen from the figure, boththe image face curvature and the constant velocity characteristic arevery good.

FIG. 8A illustrates how a deflected beam is guided through the scanninglenses 5 and 6 constituting the scanning image-forming optical system tothe scanned surface and the light receiving face 10A of the lightreceiving element.

As illustrated in the figure, angles θ_(S), θ_(C), and θ_(F) are assumedwith respect to the optical axis AX of the scanning lenses 5 and 6. Theangle θ_(C) is a view angle at which an optical write-in operation by adeflected beam starts and is called the optical write-in starting viewangle: θ_(C). The angle θ_(F) is a view angle at which an opticalwrite-in operation by a deflected beam is terminated and is called theoptical write-in termination view angle: θ_(F).

The angle θ_(S) is a view angle at which a deflected beam is detected asa synchronizing beam by the light receiving device 10. This is theabove-mentioned synchronizing beam detecting view angle and hereinaftercalled a synchronizing beam detecting view angle: θ_(S).

Since the optical path from the light source up to thedeflecting/reflecting face 4A is fixed space-wise, each deflected beamis not affected by the chromatic aberration until it enters the scanninglens 5. Therefore, even if there is a wavelength difference in the twodeflected beams, that difference does not appear until the beams passthrough the scanning lens 5, so that irrespective of whether there is adifference in the wavelength, the above-mentioned optical write-instarting view angle θ_(C), the optical write-in termination view angleθ_(F), and the synchronizing beam detecting view angle θ_(S) are allcommon to the beams and are set by design.

If there is a wavelength difference in two beams to be deflected, themagnification chromatic aberration causes a difference between the beamsin the optical path following the scanning lens 5. One of the twodeflected beams which has a shorter wavelength than the other is calledthe deflected beam BM1, indicated by the dashed line. The other beamhaving a longer wavelength is called the deflected beam BM2, indicatedby the broken line.

Suppose that at the optical write-in starting view angle of θ_(C),positions (optical write-in starting positions) of light spots of thedeflected beams BM1 and BM2 on the scanned surface are C1 and C2 and thespacing between them is “d₂” as shown in the figure. Likewise, supposethat at the optical write-in terminating view angle of θ_(F), positions(optical write-in terminating positions) of light spots of the deflectedbeams BM1 and BM2 on the scanned surface are F1 and F2 and the spacingbetween them is “d₃” as shown in the figure.

Suppose also that at the synchronizing beam detecting view angle ofθ_(S), positions of light spots of the deflected beams BM1 and BM2 onthe light receiving face 10A are S1 and S2 and the spacing between themis “d₁” as shown in the figure.

The spacings d₁, d₂, and d₃ are supposed to have a positive or negativesign according to their direction, in such a manner that if a directionfrom C1 to C2 m from F1 to F2, or from S1 to S2 is leftward in FIG. 8A,it is positive and, if that direction is rightward in FIG. 8A, it isnegative.

Next, quantities of ω₁-ω₃ are defined as follows.

First, ω₁ is defined to be the beam displacement quantity on the scannedsurface corresponding to a change in the unit view angle at thesynchronizing beam detecting view angle of θ_(S).

Next, ω₂ is defined to be the beam displacement quantity on the scannedsurface corresponding to a change in the unit view angle at the opticalwrite-in starting view angle of θ_(C).

Likewise, ω₃ is defined to be the beam displacement quantity on thescanned surface corresponding to a change in the unit view angle at theoptical write-in termination angle of θ_(F).

Since in the above-described example the constant velocitycharacteristic has been corrected appropriately, the difference betweenthe optical write-in starting time and the optical write-in terminationtime is small, and d₂≈d₃ and ω₂≈ω₃ because of symmetry, and ω₁-ω₃ arecommon to the deflected beams BM1 and BM2.

Consider now a parameter “d₁/ω₁”, which means a deflection anglenecessary for the deflected beam BM1 or BM2 to be displaced over theabove-mentioned distance of d.

Suppose here that the deflected beam BM1 has been detected by the lightreceiving device at the position S1 and that thereafter in apredetermined time lapse T an optical write-in operation starts at theposition C1. Also suppose, on the other hand, that the deflected beamBM2 has been detected by the light receiving device at the position S2and that in the predetermined time lapse T an optical write-in operationstarts. In this case, the optical write-in operation starts at theposition C2.

The light receiving device typically uses a slit, etc., to limit itslight receiving region in area, thereby detecting both deflected beamsBM1 and BM2 at the same position, which is supposed to be a position S1for simplicity. Then, when the deflected beam BM2 is detected by thelight receiving device, the deflected beam BM2 entering the scanninglens 5 precedes the synchronizing beam detecting view angle θ_(S) by theabove-mentioned deflecting view angle d₁/ω₁.

Because the deflected beam BM2 is displaced by ω2 for each unit viewangle on the scanned surface 7 at the optical write-in starting viewangle, the deflected beam BM2 starts a write-in operation at theposition C1, not at the position C2, so that the difference Δs instarting end of the scanning line on the optical write-in starting sideshown in FIG. 8B is expressed as follows:Δs=d ₂−(d ₁/ω₁)ω₂

Furthermore, the difference Δe in the terminating end of the scanningline on the optical write-in termination side is given by:Δe=d ₃−(d ₁/ω₁)ω₃,which can be expressed as follows, taking into account ω₂=ω₃:Δe=d ₃−(d ₁/ω₁)ω₂

The above-mentioned Δs and Δe are the vertical line fluctuationamplitude on the optical write-in starting side and the optical write-interminating side respectively and are hereinafter called the verticalfluctuation quantity.

The case where there are two deflected beams has been described above.When there are three deflected beams or more, the above description canbe enlarged with respect to two beams where the difference in the beamsdue to chromatic aberration becomes largest.

Thus, the vertical line fluctuations Δs and Δe can be expressedquantitatively, so that the above-mentioned specific example iscalculated actually as follows. Suppose that for the scanning lenses 5and 6, a change in the refractive index when the beam wavelength hasbeen changed by 1 nm is −1.9E−04 (1/nm) and the difference in wavelengthbetween the two light sources 1 and 1′ is 10 nm, the following is given:

-   d₁=32 (μm), synchronizing beam detecting view angle: 45.2°-   d₂=26 (μm), optical write-in starting view angle: 39°-   d₃=−26 (μm), optical write-in terminating view angle: −39°-   ω₁=7.6 (mm/°)-   ω₂=ω₃=7.7 (mm/°)

Therefore, the following is in turn given:Δs=26−(32/7.6)×7.7=−6.4 μmΔe=−26−(32/7.6)×7.7=−58.4 μm

Thus, the optical write-in starting side has the smaller value of thevertical line fluctuation quantity Δs, while the optical write-interminating side has the larger value of the vertical line fluctuationquantity Δe. Moreover, in the background art example, a synchronizingbeam passes through both the scanning lenses 5 and 6 and then is guidedto the light receiving device 10, so that the optical scanner becomeslarge or the layout becomes difficult to carry out.

The above-mentioned specific example of a multi-beam scanner isdescribed below with respect to embodiments of the present invention.

First Embodiment

The multi-beam scanner illustrated in FIG. 7A is changed into a scanneras illustrated in FIG. 1. The specific data of both the optical systemranging from the light sources 1 and 1′ to the rotary multi-facialmirror 4 and the scanning lenses 5 and 6 constituting the scanningimage-forming optical system is the same as the above-mentioned data.

Unlike the background art example, in the first embodiment, a deflectedbeam to be detected as a synchronizing beam passes through the scanninglens 5 and is then guided to the light receiving element 10 withoutpassing through the scanning lens 6. That is, a deflected beam to bereceived by the light receiving element 10 passes through the scanninglens 5 but not through the scanning lens 6 and is turned back at themirror 8 to be guided to the light receiving element 10. The lightreceiving element 10 is arranged near an image forming point (i.e.,image forming point by the scanning lens 5) in the main scanningdirection of the deflected beam to be guided. Because the detecteddeflected beam is formed as an image in the main scanning direction onlyby the positive power in the main scanning direction which the scanninglens 5 has at its periphery in the main scanning direction, the opticalpath (385 mm) from the deflecting/reflecting face of the rotarymulti-facial mirror 4 up to the above-mentioned image-forming point(light receiving face of the light receiving element) is set larger thanthe optical path (357 mm) from the deflecting/reflecting face up to thescanned surface 7.

Furthermore, to correct a change in the detection position caused byface-tilting of the deflecting/reflecting face, the cylindrical lens 9having a positive power in the sub-scanning direction is arranged.

Supposing that the wavelength difference between the two light sources 1and 1′ is 10 nm, the following is given:

-   d₁=37 (μm), synchronizing beam detecting view angle: 45.2°-   d₂=26 (μm) optical write-in starting view angle: 39°-   d₃=−26 (μm), optical write-in terminating view angle: −39°-   ω₁=10.3 (mm/°)-   ω₂=ω₃=7.7 (mm/°)

Accordingly, the following is in turn given:Δs=26−(37/10.3)×7.7=−1.7 μmΔe=−26−(37/10.3)×7.7=−53.7 μm

As compared to the above-mentioned background art example, the verticalline fluctuation quantity Δs on the optical write-in starting side hasbeen reduced from −6.4 μm to −1.7 μm, while the vertical linefluctuation quantity Δe on the optical write-in terminating side hasbeen improved by 8% approximately, from −58.4 μm to −53.7 μm.

As mentioned above, since d₂≈d₃, in order to reduce the vertical linefluctuation quantity Δe on the optical write-in terminating side, it iseffective to reduce (d₁/ω₁)×ω₂. Because “ω₂” of d₁, ω₁, and ω₂ dependson the designing conditions of the multi-beam scanner, preferably theparameter d₁/ω₁ should be reduced in value eventually.

To reduce the parameter d₁/ω₁, preferably d1 should be decreased or ω₁should be increased in value. In the above-mentioned first embodiment,the displacement quantity ω₁ is set large by setting the optical pathfrom the deflecting/reflecting face to the light receiving element 1which is a light receiving device larger than that from thedeflecting/reflecting face to the scanned surface. If theabove-mentioned optical path is merely set large, d1 is also increased,so that the parameter d₁/ω₁ cannot always be decreased. Therefore, inthe first embodiment, the deflected beam (synchronizing beam) to bedetected by the light receiving element 10 passes through only thescanning lens 5 but not through the scanning lens 6, thus preventing d1from being increased.

That is, because the scanning lenses 5 and 6 both have a positive powerin the main scanning direction, in the case where there is a wavelengthdifference between the two deflected beams, if the deflected beam passes(like in the background art example) through both the scanning lenses 5and 6 to be guided to the light receiving element 10, chromaticaberrations of the magnifications of these scanning lenses 5 and 6 havean additive effect to thereby increase the spacing d1, whereas in thefirst embodiment, the deflected beam passes through only the scanninglens 5 to be guided to the light receiving element 10 to thereby avoidbeing affected by the scanning lens 6 and so less affected by thechromatic aberration, thus mitigating an increase in the spacing d1.

If the power of the scanning lens 6 at its periphery in the mainscanning direction becomes larger, the positive power of the scanninglens 5 at its periphery in the main scanning direction is loweredrelatively, thus further enhancing the effects of the present invention.

In the first embodiment, also, the light receiving face of the lightreceiving element 10 is arranged near the main scanning directionalimage-forming position of the deflected beam to be received.Accordingly, even if the reflecting point position is fluctuated by thedeflecting/reflecting face of the rotary multi-facial mirror 4, theshift in position on the light receiving face is small, thus effectivelypreventing an increase in the vertical line fluctuation quantity causedby the fluctuation in reflecting point position.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, because the deflected beam istransformed to an essentially parallel beam in the main scanningdirection (irrespective some possible convergence or divergence), theimage-forming position is hardly changed in the main scanning directioneven if the reflecting point position is fluctuated to positions 4A and4B as illustrated in FIG. 5A. Accordingly, by arranging the lightreceiving face 10A of the light receiving element at the above-mentionedimage-forming position, the influence of the fluctuation in thereflecting point position can be eliminated or mitigated.

Furthermore, even if the reflecting point positions of the two beams bm1and bm2 are fluctuated as illustrated in FIG. 5B, the light receivingface 10A of the light receiving element can be arranged near the mainscanning directional image-forming position to thereby reduce a mainscanning directional shift in position on the light receiving face 10A.If the light receiving face is provided at a position 10B, the mainscanning directional position on the light receiving face differsbetween the beams bm1 and bm2, thus possibly resulting in an increase inthe vertical line fluctuation.

Second Embodiment

The multi-beam scanner shown in FIG. 7A has been changed to the scanneras illustrated in FIG. 2. The specific data of both the optical systemranging from the light sources 1 and 1′ to the rotary multi-facialmirror 5 and the scanning lenses 5 and 6 constituting the scanningimage-forming optical system is the same as that mentioned above.

A deflected beam to be detected by the light receiving element 10 passesthrough the scanning lens 5 but not through the scanning lens 6 to beturned back at the mirror 8 and then is guided to the light receivingelement 10 via a converging lens 11 arranged distant from the scanninglens 5 by 196.1 mm calculated as an optical path.

The converging lens has the following parameters:

-   Main scanning directional shape of the incidence side face: arc with    a curvature radius of 100 mm-   Main scanning directional shape of the emission side: curvature    radius of-   Center thickness: 6 mm-   Refractive index: 1.523946-   Refractive index change for wavelength change of 1 nm:-   −1.97E−04 (1/nm)

To form an image of the deflected beam in the sub-scanning direction onthe light receiving face of the light receiving element 10, theincidence face and/or the emission face have a sub-scanning directionalpower.

To use the converging lens 11 to thereby refract opposite to therefraction by the scanning lens 5, the deflected beam is used as asynchronizing beam, and the converging lens 11 has been shifted 4.7 mmupward with respect to the principal ray of the synchronizing beam inthe figure. The converging lens 11 has its optical axis parallel to theoptical axis of the scanning lenses 5 and 6.

In such a case, the principal rays of the synchronizing beams aredeflected by the converging lens 11 in the same direction (away from theoptical axis of the scanning lenses 5 and 6) in such a way that theshorter beams may be deflected larger and in such a direction as to comenear the optical path of the beam with the larger wavelength.Accordingly, the spacing d1 between the synchronizing beams can bereduced on the light receiving face of the light receiving element 10.In this case, the optical path measures 279.8 mm in length from thedeflecting/reflecting face to the light receiving face of the lightreceiving element 10.

Specifically, for a wavelength difference of 10 nm between the two lightsources, the following is given:

-   d₁=14.6 (μm), synchronizing beam detecting view angle: 45.2°-   d₂=26 (μm), optical write-in starting view angle: 39°-   d₃=−26 (μm), optical write-in terminating view angle: −39°-   ω₁=4.3 (mm/°)-   ω₂=ω₃=7.7 (mm/°)

Accordingly, the following is in turn given:Δs=26−(14.6/4.3)×7.7=−0.1 μmΔe=−26−(14.6/4.3)×7.7=−52.1 μm

As compared to the above-mentioned background art example, the verticalline fluctuation quantity Δs on the optical write-in starting side hasbeen reduced from −6.4 μm to −0.1 μm, while the vertical linefluctuation quantity Δe on the optical write-in terminating side hasbeen improved by 10% approximately, from −58.4 μm to −52.7 μm.

If, in this case, the refractive index change quantity for a wavelengthdifference of 1 nm is increased to −3.94E−04 (1/nm), the following isgiven:Δs=26−(13.9/4.3)×7.7=1.1 μmΔe=−26−(13.9/4.3)×7.7=−50.9 μm

Accordingly, the vertical line fluctuation is further decreased.

In this embodiment, ω₁ is made smaller than in the background artexample and the first embodiment. Although this may contribute to anincrease in the parameter d₁/ω₁, the value of d1 is so decreased as toovercome this increasing factor, thus decreasing the parameter d₁/ω₁resultantly.

Third Embodiment

The multi-beam scanner illustrated in FIG. 7A has been changed to thescanner as illustrated in FIG. 3. The specific data of both the opticalsystem ranging from the light sources 1 and 1′ to the rotarymulti-facial mirror 4 and the scanning lenses 5 and 6 constituting thescanning image-forming optical system is the same as that mentionedabove.

A deflected beam to be detected by the light receiving element 10 passesthrough the scanning lens 5 but not through the scanning lens 6 to beturned back at the mirror 8 and then is guided to the light receivingelement 10 via a prism 11′ arranged distant from the scanning lens 5 by197.4 mm calculated as an optical path.

The prism 11′ is constructed as follows.

Its incidence side face is inclined 18 in a plane parallel to the figure(i.e., plane parallel to both the main scanning direction and theoptical axis of the scanning lenses 5 and 6). Its emission side face isperpendicular to the optical axis of the scanning lenses 5 and 6.

-   Refractive index: 1.523946-   Refractive index change quantity for a wavelength difference of 1    nm: −3.94E−04 (1/nm)

To form an image of the synchronizing beam in the sub-scanning directionon the emission side face of the light receiving element 10, theincidence side face and/or the emission side face are provided with apositive power in the sub-scanning direction.

Like in the case of the second embodiment, in this third embodimentalso, the principal rays of the synchronizing beams are deflected by theprism 11′ in the same direction (away from the optical axis of thescanning lenses 5 and 6) in such a way that the shorter beams may bedeflected more and in such a direction as to come near the optical pathof the beam with a larger wavelength. Accordingly, the spacing d1between the synchronizing beams can be reduced on the light receivingface of the light receiving element 10. In this case, the optical pathmeasures 349.8 mm in length from the deflecting face to the lightreceiving element, longer than in the second embodiment. Accordingly, inthis embodiment, d₁ can be made smaller and, at the same time, ω₁ can bemade larger.

Specifically, for a wavelength difference of 10 nm between the two lightsources, the following is given:

-   d₁=6.5 (μm), synchronizing beam detecting view angle: 45.2°-   d₂=26 (μm), optical write-in starting view angle: 39°-   d₃=−26 (μm), optical write-in terminating view angle: −39°-   ω₁=10.1 (nm/°)-   ω₂=ω₃=7.7 (mm/°)

Accordingly, the following is in turn given:Δs=26−(6.5/10.1)×7.7=21.0 μmΔe=−26−(6.5/10.1)×7.7=−31.0 μm

As compared to the above-mentioned background art example, the verticalline fluctuation quantity Δs on the optical write-in starting side hasbeen increased from −6.4 μm to −31.0 μm, whereas the vertical linefluctuation quantity Δe on the optical write-in terminating side hasbeen improved by 50% approximately, from −58.4 μm to −31.0 μm. Thevertical line fluctuation quantity on the optical write-in starting sideof Δs=21.0 μm is actually of no problem, so that the vertical linefluctuation quantity can be reduced on both the optical write-instarting and terminating sides, thus conducting extremely goodmulti-beam scanning.

In the third embodiment, as mentioned above, the d₁ is reduced and ω₁ isenlarged, so that the parameter d₁/ω₁ is reduced, thus effectivelydecreasing the vertical line fluctuation quantity.

Fourth Embodiment

The multi-beam scanner illustrated in FIG. 7A has been changed to ascanner as illustrated in FIG. 4. The specific data of both the opticalsystem ranging from the light sources 1 and 1′ to the rotarymulti-facial mirror 4 and the scanning lenses 5 and 6 constituting thescanning image-forming optical system is the same as that mentionedabove.

In this fourth embodiment, a deflected beam to be detected by the lightreceiving element 10 does not pass through the scanning lens 5 but isturned back at the mirror 8 and then passes through the optical axis ofa converging lens 11A to be guided to the light receiving element 10.The converging lens 11A has positive powers mutually different in themain scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction so as to form animage of a synchronizing beam on the light receiving face of the lightreceiving element 10 in the main scanning and sub-scanning directions.

Because in the fourth embodiment the synchronizing beam does not passthrough either scanning lens 5 or 6, it is not affected by theachromatic aberration at the scanning lenses 5 and 6.

Accordingly, for a wavelength difference of 10 nm between the two lightsources, the following is given:

-   d₁=0.0 (μm), synchronizing beam detecting view angle: 45.2°-   d₂=26 (μm), optical write-in starting view angle: 39°-   d₃=−26 (μm), optical write-in terminating view angle: −39°-   ω₂=ω₃=7.7 (mm/°)

Accordingly, the following is in turn given:Δs=26−0.0=26.0 μmΔe=−26−0.0=−26.0 μm

That is, in this fourth embodiment, d1 has been made 0 to therebyminimize the parameter D₁/ω₁

Thus, in the fourth embodiment, the vertical line fluctuation quantityis almost the same as each other on both the optical write-in startingand terminating sides and actually of no problem; so that the verticalline fluctuation quantity can be reduced on both the optical write-instarting and terminating sides, thus enabling conducting extremely goodmulti-beam scanning.

The synchronizing beam detecting method according to any one of theabove-mentioned first through fourth embodiments includes the steps ofdeflecting at an equiangular velocity beams from the plurality of lightsources 1 and 1′, modulated independently according to an image signal,by using the common deflector 4, converging thus deflected beams to thescanned surface 7 using the scanning image-forming optical systems 5 and6, forming on the scanned surface 7 a plurality of light spots separatedfrom each other in the sub-scanning direction, and using the pluralityof light spots for simultaneously scanning a plurality of scanning linesin a multi-beam scanner. In the method, to control the optical write-instart of the beams scanning the scanning lines, the beams deflectedtoward an optical write-in starting portion are detected as asynchronizing beam, the light receiving device 10 for receiving thedeflected beams and the synchronizing beam optical system forsequentially and individually guiding the deflected beams to the lightreceiving device 10 constitute in combination the synchronizationdetecting system, so as to thereby generate a reception light signal foreach of the deflected beams from the light receiving device 10. Thesynchronization detecting system is configured such that supposing, asfor the synchronizing beam detecting view angle θS, that the maximumshift in main scanning directional beam position occurring at thelocation of the light receiving face 10A of the light receiving device10 caused by an inter-beam wavelength difference is d₁, and the beamdisplacement quantity at the location of the light receiving face 10Acorresponding to a unit view angle change at the synchronizing beamdetecting view angle θ_(S) is ω₁, the parameter d₁/ω₁ may be reduced.Further, some of the lenses (scanning lens 5) contained in the scanningimage-forming optical system 5 or 6 may be utilized as a part of thesynchronizing beam optical system of the synchronization detectingsystem, or the dedicated optical system 11A may be used as thesynchronizing beam optical system of the synchronization detectingsystem to thus render the parameter d₁/ω₁ to 0.

Furthermore, the multi-beam scanner described in the above-mentionedfirst embodiment includes the plurality of light sources 1 and 1′emitting beams independently modulated according to an image signal, thedeflector 4 having the deflecting/reflecting face and deflecting at anequiangular velocity beams from the plurality of light sources 1 and 1′,the scanning image-forming optical systems 5 and 6 guiding the beamsdeflected by the deflector 4 to the scanned surface 7 to thereby form aplurality of light spots on the above-mentioned scanned surface, thelight receiving device 10 common to the plurality of beams andsequentially and individually receiving the beams deflected toward theoptical write-in starting portion on the scanned surface 7, and thesynchronizing beam optical systems 5, 8, and 9 guiding the deflectedbeams to the light receiving device 10. The scanning image-formingoptical system has two positive scanning lenses or more having a regionwith a positive power in the main scanning direction on the opticalwrite-in starting side. The deflected beams to be detected by the lightreceiving device 10 pass through at least one of the at least twopositive scanning lenses but not through all of them and then are guidedto the light receiving device 10. The optical path from the deflector 4to the light receiving device 10 is made longer than that from thedeflector 4 to the scanned surface 7 in the synchronizing beam opticalsystems 5, 8, and 9. The light receiving face of the light receivingdevice 10 is arranged near the image forming position in the mainscanning direction of the deflected beams guided by the synchronizingbeam optical systems 5, 8, and 9, where the synchronizing beam opticalsystem 5, 8, and 9 have the anamorphic optical element 9 for forming animage of the deflected beams in the sub-scanning direction near thelight receiving face of the light receiving device 10.

Furthermore, the scanning image-forming optical system includes the twopositive scanning lenses 5 and 6 having a region with a positive powerin the main scanning direction on the optical write-in starting side,and one of the two lenses present on the side of the deflector (lens 5)may constitute a part of the synchronizing beam optical system.

The multi-beam scanner described in the second and third embodimentsincludes the plurality of light sources 1 and 1′ emitting beamsindividually modulated according to the image signal, the deflector 4having the deflecting/reflecting face and deflecting at an equiangularvelocity the beams from the plurality of light sources, the scanningimage-forming optical system 5 and 6 guiding the beams deflected by thedeflector 4 to the scanned surface 7 to thereby form a plurality oflight spots on the scanned surface 7, the light receiving device 10common to the plurality of beams and sequentially and individuallyreceiving the beams deflected toward the optical write-in startingportion on the scanned surface 7, and the synchronizing beam opticalsystems 5, 8, and 11 (or 11′) guiding the deflected beams to the lightreceiving device 10. The scanning image-forming optical system has atleast one scanning lens, and the synchronizing beam optical system isconstituted by the at least one scanning lens 5 and at least onerefracting optical element 11 (or 11′) to thereby pass the deflectedbeams to be detected by the light receiving device 10 through the atleast one scanning lens 5 and then deflect the principal rays of thuspassed deflected beams at the refracting optical element 11 (or 11′) inorder to guide them to the light receiving device 10, so that thedifference in refracting action of the refracting optical element 11 (or11′) caused by a wavelength difference of the deflected beams may beutilized to reduce the shift due to a wavelength difference of deflectedbeams of the incidence position of the deflected beams upon the lightreceiving device at the synchronizing beam detecting angle.

Additionally, the scanning image-forming optical system may beconstituted of two lenses, the scanning lenses 5 and 6, which arepositive lenses having a region with a positive power in the mainscanning direction on the optical write-in starting side, and one thetwo lenses present on the deflector side (lens 5) constitutes a part ofthe synchronizing beam optical system.

In the multi-beam scanner of the second embodiment, the refractingoptical element 11 is a converging lens having a positive power in themain scanning direction and arranged decentered to deflect the principalray of the incident deflected beam, thus utilizing the main scanningdirectional positive power to form the deflected beam in the mainscanning direction into an image near the light receiving face of thelight receiving device.

Furthermore, in the multi-beam scanner of the third embodiment, therefracting optical element 11′ is a wedge-shaped prism, at least oneface of which has a positive power in the sub-scanning direction, whichpower is utilized to form the deflected beam in the sub-scanningdirection into an image near the light receiving face of the lightreceiving device. Moreover, the multi-beam scanner described in any ofthe second and third embodiments is capable of setting a rate of changein refractive index caused by the wavelength of the refracting opticalelements 11 and 11′ that is larger than that of the scanning lensconstituting a part of the synchronizing beam optical system.

The multi-beam scanner of the fourth embodiment includes the pluralityof light sources 1 and 1′ emitting beams independently modulatedaccording to the image signal, the deflector 4 having thedeflecting/reflecting face and deflecting at an equiangular velocitybeams from the plurality of light sources, the scanning image-formingoptical systems 5 and 6 guiding the beams deflected by the deflector 4to the scanned surface 7 to thereby form a plurality of light spots onthe scanned surface 7, the light receiving device 10 common to theplurality of beams and sequentially and individually receiving the beamsdeflected toward the optical write-in starting portion on the scannedsurface 7, and the synchronizing beam optical systems 8 and 11A guidingthe deflected beams to the light receiving device 10. The scanningimage-forming optical systems 5 and 6 and the synchronizing beam opticalsystems 8 and 11A are mutually separate optical systems, such that thesynchronizing beam optical system may guide the deflected beams to thesame position on the light receiving face of the light receiving deviceirrespective of the wavelength at the synchronizing beam detecting viewangle.

Furthermore, the synchronizing beam optical system 11A is a converginglens.

Additionally, in the multi-beam scanner described in any of the firstthrough fourth embodiments, there may be provided two light sources 1and 1′ emitting beams independently modulated according to the imagesignal. The two light sources 1 and 1′ are mutually separatesemiconductor lasers, and beams from them are incident via the couplinglenses 2 and 2′ onto the deflector 4 with their respective openingangles, and principal rays of the beams intersect with the main scanningdirection near the deflecting/reflecting face of the deflector 4, or thebeams from these semiconductor lasers 1 and 1′ are formed near thedeflecting/reflecting face of the deflector 4 by the line image-formingoptical system 3 as line images which are long in the main scanningdirection and mutually separated in the sub-scanning direction.

Thus, by the multi-beam scanner of any of the first through fourthembodiments, beams from the plurality of light sources emitting beamsindependently modulated according to the image signal can be deflectedat an equiangular velocity by the common deflector 4 to thereby convergethus deflected beams by the scanning image-forming optical systems 5 and6 toward the scanned surface 7 in order to form a plurality of lightspots, which can be utilized to simultaneously scan a plurality ofscanning lines in multi-beam scanning with the mitigated vertical linefluctuation due to the difference in wavelength of the beams.

Finally, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent invention is described below with reference to FIG. 9.

The image forming apparatus in this embodiment is a laser printer.

A laser printer 100 has a photo-conductive member formed in a cylinderas a photosensitive medium 111. Around the photosensitive medium 111 arearranged a charging roller 112 as a charging device, a developingapparatus 113 as a visualizing device, a transfer roller 114, and acleaning apparatus 115. The charging device may be a technically knowncorona charger.

Furthermore, a multi-beam scanner 117 using laser flux LB is providedfor conducting exposure by multi-beam scanning between the chargingroller 112 and the developing apparatus 113.

In FIG. 9, a reference numeral 116 indicates a fixing apparatus, areference numeral 118 indicates a cassette, a reference numeral 119indicates a registration roller pair, a reference numeral 120 indicatesa sheet feeding roller, a reference numeral 121 indicates a carryingpath, a reference numeral 122 indicates a sheet discharging roller pair,a reference numeral 123 indicates a tray, and a reference sign Pindicates transfer paper as a recording medium.

When an image is to be formed, the photosensitive medium 111, which is aphoto-conductive member, is rotated clockwise at a constant speed, sothat its surface is charged by the charging roller 112 and exposed inmulti-beam scanning by the multi-beam scanner 117 to thereby form anelectrostatic latent image. The formed electrostatic latent image is aso-called negative latent image with its image portion exposed.

This electrostatic latent image undergoes reversal developing at thedeveloping apparatus 113 to thereby form a toner image on thephotosensitive medium 111.

The cassette 118 containing the transfer paper P is attachable to anddetachable from the body of the image forming apparatus 100, so thatwhen attached thereto as illustrated in FIG. 9, an uppermost sheet ofthe contained transfer paper P is fed by the sheet feeding roller 120.The transfer paper P thus fed has its tip caught by the registrationroller pair 119. Timed to the movement of the toner image on thephotosensitive medium 111 to its transfer position, the registrationroller pair 119 feeds the transfer paper P to the transferring portion.At the transferring portion, the transfer paper P is superposed with thetoner image to have the toner image electro-statically transferredthereon by the action of the transfer roller 114. The transfer paper Pwith the toner image thus transferred thereon is fed to the fixingapparatus 116, where the toner image is fixed thereon, and then passesthrough the carrying path 121 to be discharged onto the tray 123 by thesheet discharging roller pair 122. After the toner image is transferred,the surface of the photosensitive medium 111 is cleaned by the cleaningapparatus 115 to remove the residual toner, paper particles, etc.

In the above image forming apparatus 100, in place of the transfer paperP, an OHP sheet etc. may be used. Further, the toner image may betransferred to the transfer sheet P via an intermediate transfer mediumsuch as an intermediate transfer belt. As the optical scanner 117, themulti-beam scanner described in any one of the above-mentionedembodiments can be used to form a good image.

Thus, the image forming apparatus performs optical scanning on thephotosensitive surface of the photosensitive medium 111 by using themulti-beam scanner 117 to thereby form a latent image and visualize it,and the multi-beam scanner 117 for optical scanning on thephotosensitive surface of the photosensitive medium may be configuredaccording to any of the above-mentioned embodiments.

Further, the photosensitive medium 111 may be a photoconductive memberand an electrostatic latent image formed by uniform charging of thephotosensitive surface of the photoconductive member and opticalscanning by the optical scanner may be visualized as a toner image.

Furthermore, in the image forming apparatus, the photosensitive mediummay be a silver salt photographic film. In this case, a latent imageformed by optical scanning by the optical scanner can be visualized by ausual developing method for use in the silver salt photographingprocesses. Such an image forming apparatus can be practiced as, forexample, an optical plate making apparatus or an optical drawingapparatus.

Furthermore, the image forming apparatus can be practiced specificallyas a laser printer as described above, or a laser plotter, a digitalcopy machine, or a facsimile machine.

Numerous additional modifications and variations of the presentinvention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is thereforeto be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, thepresent invention may be practiced otherwise than as specificallydescribed herein.

1. A multi-beam scanner, comprising: a plurality of light sourcesconfigured to emit beams independently modulated according to an imagesignal, respectively, each of the beams having a prescribed divergenceangle; a deflector having a deflecting/reflecting face and configured todeflect the beams of the plurality of light sources at an equiangularvelocity; a scanning image-forming optical system configured to guidethe beams deflected by the deflector to a scanned surface so as to beformed into a plurality of light spots on the scanned surface; a lightreceiving device configured to sequentially and individually receive thebeams deflected toward optical write-in starting portions on the scannedsurface as synchronizing beams, the light receiving device being commonto the synchronizing beams; and a synchronizing beam optical systemconfigured to guide the deflected beams to the light receiving device,the scanning image-forming optical system and the synchronizing beamoptical system being mutually separate, the synchronizing beam opticalsystem configured to guide each deflected beam to a substantially sameposition on the light receiving face of the light receiving deviceirrespective of its wavelength with respect to a synchronizing beamdetecting view angle, wherein the synchronizing beam optical systemincludes a converging lens, wherein the plurality of light sourcesinclude at least two light sources that modulate beams individuallyaccording to an image signal, and wherein the at least two light sourcesare mutually separate semiconductor lasers, and the beams from thesemiconductor lasers are incident onto the deflector with respectiveopening angles in the main scanning direction via a coupling lens. 2.The multi-beam scanner of claim 1, wherein principal rays of the beamsfrom the semiconductor lasers intersect in the main scanning directionin a vicinity of the deflecting/reflecting face of the deflector.
 3. Themulti-beam scanner of claim 1, wherein the beams from the semiconductorlasers are formed by a line image-forming optical system into lineimages long in the main scanning direction and mutually separated in thesub-scanning direction.
 4. A method of multi-beam scanning, comprisingthe steps of: emitting from a plurality of light sources beamsindependently modulated according to an image signal, respectively, eachof the beams having a prescribed divergence angle; deflecting the beamsemitted from the plurality of light sources by a deflector at anequiangular velocity; guiding the deflected beams to a scanned surfaceby a scanning image-forming optical system so as to be formed into aplurality of light spots on the scanned surface, separated from eachother in a sub-scanning direction; and sequentially and individuallyguiding the beams deflected toward optical write-in starting portions onthe scanned surface by a synchronizing beam optical system so as to bereceived by a light receiving device common to the guided beams, thescanning image-forming optical system and the synchronizing beam opticalsystem being mutually separate, and the synchronizing beam opticalsystem guiding each deflected beam to a substantially same position onthe light receiving face of the light receiving device irrespective ofits wavelength with respect to a synchronizing beam detecting viewangle, wherein the plurality of light sources includes at least twolight sources that modulate beams individually according to an imagesignal, and wherein the at least two light sources are mutually separatesemiconductor lasers, and the beams from the semiconductor lasers areincident onto the deflector with respective opening angles in the mainscanning direction via a coupling lens.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the synchronizing beam optical system includes a converginglens.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein principal rays of the beams fromthe semiconductor lasers intersect in the main scanning direction in avicinity of a deflecting/reflecting face of the deflector.
 7. The methodof claim 4, wherein the beams from the semiconductor lasers are formedby a line image-forming optical system into line images long in the mainscanning direction and mutually separated in the sub-scanning direction.8. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a photosensitive mediumhaving a photosensitive surface; a charging device configured touniformly charge the photosensitive surface of the photosensitivemedium; a multi-beam scanner configured to scan the photosensitivesurface of the photosensitive medium to form a latent image on thephotosensitive surface; and a visualization device configured tovisualize the latent image, the multi-beam scanner including, aplurality of light sources configured to emit beams independentlymodulated according to an image signal, respectively, each of the beamshaving a prescribed divergence angle; a deflector having adeflecting/reflecting face and configured to deflect the beams of theplurality of light sources at an equiangular velocity; a scanningimage-forming optical system configured to guide the beams deflected bythe deflector to the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive memberso as to form a plurality of light spots constituting the latent imageon the photosensitive surface; a light receiving device configured tosequentially and individually receive the beams deflected toward opticalwrite-in starting portions on the photosensitive surface assynchronizing beams, the light receiving device being common to thesynchronizing beams; and a synchronizing beam optical system configuredto guide the deflected beams to the light receiving device, the scanningimage-forming optical system and the synchronizing beam optical systembeing mutually separate, and the synchronizing beam optical systemguiding each deflected beam to a substantially same position on thelight receiving face of the light receiving device irrespective of itswavelength with respect to a synchronizing beam detecting view angle,wherein the synchronizing beam optical system includes a converginglens, wherein the plurality of light sources include at least two lightsources that modulate beams individually according to an image signal,and wherein the at least two light sources are mutually separatesemiconductor lasers, and the beams from the semiconductor lasers areincident onto the deflector with respective opening angles in the mainscanning direction via a coupling lens.
 9. The image forming apparatusof claim 8, wherein principal rays of beams from the semiconductorlasers intersect in the main scanning direction in a vicinity of thedeflecting/reflecting face of the deflector.
 10. The image formingapparatus of claim 8, wherein the beams from the semiconductor lasersare formed by a line image-forming optic system into line images long inthe main scanning direction and mutually separated in the sub-scanningdirection.
 11. The image forming apparatus of claim 8, wherein thephotosensitive medium comprises a photoconductive member and the latentimage is visualized by the visualizing device to a toner image.